"I knew I was OK right away," said Martinez, who admitted to a slight headache after the game. "I think it mostly glanced off. If it would have hit me straight on, it would have been different."

His Mariners teammates felt their hearts skip a beat.

"When you get hit in the head, I don't care how, it's scary," said Jamie Moyer, who was in the bullpen at the time. "He kind of bounced up, though. I was worried until I talked to him. Those guys were throwing hard tonight."

"I was very worried about him," Ichiro Suzuki said. "When we were in the clubhouse (later) he seemed fine to me, but whenever someone gets hit in the head, it takes a while, and something can happen later. Hopefully he will be careful."

"He's OK," Hasegawa said. "He still remembers who his wife is."

Martinez, who says he's likely to retire at the end of the season, had two more at-bats and struck out both times.

"I wanted to enjoy it, and I had a great time this week," he said. "I started to think about all the years I've played, and this is what it's all about."

ROCKET MAN: Roger Clemens came close to missing his final All-Star appearance -- very close.

Clemens got a phone call from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman at 10 a.m. Monday, telling him the American League needed a pitcher and asking whether he would come to Chicago.

Clemens was given 45 minutes to make the decision, and after conferring with his family, they decided to go for it.

The ordeal was just beginning. The family traveled an hour from their lake house to their home in Houston on Monday night, then yesterday morning, Clemens was told his jet was unable to get in and out of Houston because of high winds from Hurricane Claudette. The jet was stuck 80 miles away in College Station, and unless he could get there quickly, there would be no All-Star Game for Clemens.

How fast did Clemens drive?

"Fast," he said to reporters upon his arrival, drawing a laugh. "About as fast as I throw."

Clemens said when he was offered the spot on the team, he didn't know the details of who he was replacing and why. Oakland's Barry Zito was declared unavailable to pitch by the A's, but nobody told Zito, who found out the news from reporters during an interview session on Monday.

Zito and Clemens each pitched eight innings on Sunday, but while the A's didn't want to take a chance with Zito, the Yankees signed off on Clemens' last hurrah.

"They will still run me out because I'm an old goat," Clemens said. "But in Barry's situation, I can see why the A's (are) sensitive to that, because he has a career ahead of him."

If Clemens had not received his ninth All-Star selection, it would have been the first time since 1995 that no Yankees pitcher had been selected. His arrival also saved Moyer from being the oldest player in the game. Clemens is 106 days older than Moyer, which coincidentally is roughly the difference in miles per hour between their fastballs.

MAKING IT INTERESTING: Cincinnati manager Bob Boone, whose sons Bret and Aaron were All-Stars, said the decision to give the winner of the All-Star Game home field advantage in the World Series wasn't an indication that previous All-Star teams weren't playing hard enough.

"I think people are misinterpreting that," he said yesterday. "It's like walking up to the first tee. Hey, you want to put something on it? Yeah, let's do it."

IT'S CALLED IRONY: Between innings, the scoreboard showed legendary Chicago baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who was sitting in the press box. The man who has covered the major leagues since 1957 and was named baseball's first official historian in 1999 received an ovation from the reporters.

Holtzman's best-known book: "No Cheering in the Press Box."

NEW KID IN TOWN: As the other players pass his locker in the National League clubhouse, they take time to say hello and congratulate him. Dontrelle Willis might be only 21 -- nearly 20 years younger than Clemens -- but he's an All-Star, and he appreciates being treated like one.

"It's about respect, and that's all I ask," said the Florida Marlins left-hander. "I have nothing but respect for these guys, because I have respect for the game. This is a hard sport to play and to be successful at."

You'd never know it by watching Willis pitch. He has made it look easy, going 9-1 with a 2.08 earned-run average in 13 major league starts using his herky-jerky delivery.

Many thought Willis should have been named to the All-Star team to begin with, but he was added Friday as a replacement for injured Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown. Willis received one of the larger ovations during player introductions.

"Being on the team five minutes before the game or being on the team two weeks before the game, it's the same thing," he said.

"All I know is I still get to wear this National League jersey."

Based on the start to his major league career, Willis might make room in the closet for a few more All-Star jerseys.

HE'S A REBEL: Barry Bonds is prone to rambling diatribes, and this week has been no different. He's spent his time with the media railing about the fact that there is a separate Negro Leagues Museum, proclaiming that he wants to beat Babe Ruth's home run total but not Hank Aaron's record, and yesterday saying he doesn't really hold the single-season home run record.

Come again? The record book says Bonds' total of 73 in 2001 is tops, but Bonds said the real record-holder is Negro Leagues star Josh Gibson, who hit 84 in a 170-game season in 1936 while playing for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Gibson also hit 75 homers for the Homestead Grays in 1931.

"If they include the Negro Leagues in the (record), and they should because baseball is still segregated, 84 is the record," Bonds said.

NOTES: The start by White Sox pitcher Esteban Loaiza marked the first time a pitcher from either Chicago team had started an All-Star Game since 1959. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Mike Williams' 6.44 earned-run average was the highest of any player selected for an All-Star team. ... The crowd of 47,609 was the largest in the 13-year history of New Comiskey/U.S. Cellular Field. ...

Chicago became the second city to host an All-Star Game in three different ballparks, including old Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field. New York has hosted games at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Shea Stadium and Ebbets Field. Chicago and New York have each hosted seven games. ... Former Mariners and current Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella has signed up as spokesman for Take a Swing Against Prostate Cancer, a new program hoping to raise awareness of the second-leading cause of death among American men. An online checklist of risk factors is available at MLB.com. ... The loudest boos during pregame introductions were for White Sox manager Jerry Manuel, who was part of the AL coaching staff. It's safe to assume the booers included both Cubs fans and White Sox fans.